Lanard Toys Limited v. Dolgencorp LLC

958 F.3d 1337
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedMay 14, 2020
Docket19-1781
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 958 F.3d 1337 (Lanard Toys Limited v. Dolgencorp LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lanard Toys Limited v. Dolgencorp LLC, 958 F.3d 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2020).

Opinion

Case: 19-1781 Document: 61 Page: 1 Filed: 05/14/2020

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

LANARD TOYS LIMITED, Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

DOLGENCORP LLC, JA-RU, INC., TOYS "R" US- DELAWARE, INC., Defendants-Appellees ______________________

2019-1781 ______________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in No. 3:15-cv-00849-MMH-PDB, Judge Marcia Morales Howard. ______________________

Decided: May 14, 2020 ______________________

RICHARD PAUL SYBERT, Gordon Rees Scully Man- sukhani LLP, San Diego, CA, for plaintiff-appellant. Also represented by REID E. DAMMANN, Los Angeles, CA.

LEWIS ANTEN, Lewis Anten, PC, Encino, CA, for de- fendants-appellees. Also represented by FREDERICK D. PAGE, Holland & Knight LLP, Jacksonville, FL; ILENE PABIAN, Miami, FL. ______________________

Before LOURIE, MAYER, and WALLACH, Circuit Judges. Case: 19-1781 Document: 61 Page: 2 Filed: 05/14/2020

LOURIE, Circuit Judge. Lanard Toys Limited (“Lanard”) appeals from the deci- sion of the United States District Court for the Middle Dis- trict of Florida granting summary judgment in favor of Dolgencorp LLC, Ja-Ru, Inc., and Toys “R” Us–Delaware, Inc. (collectively, “Appellees”) with respect to Lanard’s claims for design patent infringement, copyright infringe- ment, trade dress infringement, and statutory and common law unfair competition. Lanard Toys Ltd. v. Toys “R” Us- Delaware, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-849-J-34PDB, 2019 WL 1304290 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 21, 2019) (“Decision”). For the reasons described below, we affirm. BACKGROUND Lanard makes and sells the “Lanard Chalk Pencil,” which is a toy chalk holder designed to look like a pencil. Lanard owns Design Patent D671,167 (the “D167 patent”), which contains five figures showing a pencil-shaped chalk holder from different angles. The D167 patent claims: “The ornamental design for a chalk holder, as shown and described.” Lanard also owns copyright Reg. VA 1-794-458 (the “’458 copyright”) for a work entitled “Pencil/Chalk Holder.” The relevant images are depicted below. Lanard Chalk D167 patent ’458 copyright Pencil (Fig. 1) (first image) Case: 19-1781 Document: 61 Page: 3 Filed: 05/14/2020

LANARD TOYS LIMITED v. DOLGENCORP LLC 3

In 2011, Lanard began selling the Lanard Chalk Pencil to Dolgencorp LLC (“Dolgencorp”), which is a national dis- tributor. In 2012, Lanard began selling the Lanard Chalk Pencil to Toys “R” Us–Delaware, Inc. (“TRU”), which was a large toy retailer with stores throughout the United States. All Lanard Chalk Pencils sold to Dolgencorp and TRU were marked to indicate Lanard’s copyright and patent (or pend- ing patent) protection. In 2012, Ja-Ru, Inc. (“Ja-Ru”) designed a toy chalk holder that looks like a pencil. Ja-Ru Product

It is undisputed that Ja-Ru used the Lanard Chalk Pencil as a reference sample in designing its product. In late 2013, Dolgencorp and TRU stopped ordering units of the Lanard Chalk Pencil and instead began ordering and sell- ing the Ja-Ru product. On March 27, 2014, Lanard filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Dolgencorp, TRU, and Ja-Ru, J.A. 168–84, and the case was subsequently transferred to the Middle District of Florida, J.A. 1122–32. Lanard’s Second Amended Com- plaint, which is the operative complaint in the case, asserts four causes of action: (1) copyright infringement; (2) design patent infringement; (3) trade dress infringement; and (4) statutory and common law unfair competition under fed- eral and state law. J.A. 1180–96. Case: 19-1781 Document: 61 Page: 4 Filed: 05/14/2020

The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment relating to all claims, and the district court granted Appel- lees’ motion. Decision, 2019 WL 1304290, at *28–29. Spe- cifically, the court granted summary judgment that Ja-Ru’s product does not infringe the D167 patent, that the ’458 copyright is invalid and alternatively not infringed by Ja- Ru’s product, that Ja-Ru’s product does not infringe Lanard’s trade dress, and that Lanard’s unfair competition claims fail because its other claims fail. Id. at *28. Lanard appealed, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1). DISCUSSION We review a district court’s grant of summary judg- ment according to the law of the regional circuit. Kaneka Corp. v. Xiamen Kingdomway Grp. Co., 790 F.3d 1298, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (citing Halo Elecs., Inc. v. Pulse El- ecs., Inc., 769 F.3d 1371, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2014)). In the Eleventh Circuit, a grant of summary judgment is re- viewed de novo, “construing the facts and all reasonable in- ferences from the facts in favor of the nonmoving party.” Stardust, 3007 LLC v. Brookhaven, 899 F.3d 1164, 1170 (11th Cir. 2018) (citing Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan Univ., 780 F.3d 1039, 1050 (11th Cir. 2015)). Summary judgment is appropriate when “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). I We begin, as the district court did, with Lanard’s claim for design patent infringement. Determining whether a de- sign patent has been infringed is a two-part test: (1) the court first construes the claim to determine its meaning and scope; (2) the fact finder then compares the properly construed claim to the accused design. Elmer v. ICC Fab- ricating, Inc., 67 F.3d 1571, 1577 (Fed. Cir. 1995). In com- paring the patented and accused design, the “ordinary observer” test is applied—i.e., infringement is found “[i]f, Case: 19-1781 Document: 61 Page: 5 Filed: 05/14/2020

LANARD TOYS LIMITED v. DOLGENCORP LLC 5

in the eye of an ordinary observer, giving such attention as a purchaser usually gives, two designs are substantially the same, if the resemblance is such as to deceive such an observer, inducing him to purchase one supposing it to be the other.” Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 665, 670 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en banc) (quoting Gorham Mfg. Co. v. White, 81 U.S. (14 Wall.) 511, 528 (1871)). The in- fringement analysis must compare the accused product to the patented design, not to a commercial embodiment. See Payless Shoesource, Inc. v. Reebok Int’l, Ltd., 998 F.2d 985, 990 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also High Point Design LLC v. Buyer’s Direct, Inc., 621 F. App’x 632, 642 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (“We have long-cautioned that it is generally improper to determine infringement by comparing an accused product with the patentee’s purported commercial embodiment.” (citing Sun Hill Indus., Inc. v. Easter Unlimited, Inc., 48 F.3d 1193, 1196 (Fed. Cir. 1995), abrogated on other grounds by Egyptian Goddess, 543 F.3d at 672–79)). Lanard asserts three challenges against the district court’s decision on design patent infringement. First, Lanard argues that the court erred in its claim construc- tion by eliminating elements of the design based on func- tionality and lack of novelty.

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